Before I repot my thai lime, I need some advice on the best ferts and amendments. Here's what it looks like now:



It is almost 2' tall and in a 10" pot. I was going to pot up to 12" but I checked the roots yesterday and it doesn't seem to need it at this point. It is apparently a seedling and not a grafted tree. When I got it last year, it was in a 6" pot. I put it into a 10" pot with a wick so I wouldnt have to repot too soon. It is in a bark based mix with good drainage. But now I am ready to change over to CHC. Some friends gave me the thai lime and at the time I knew nothing about citrus (or gardening period). Fortunately it survived my ignorance, but now I want to do better.

I have read the posts saying that citrus absorb at a 5-1-3 ratio. I generally add a little Foxfarm 5-5-5 granular organic fert to my mixes. The box recommends top dressing monthly. I also have some cottonseed meal 6-2-1 (which I bought because it is supposed to help acidify the soil). Which one would be better to add to the mix? Neither one has the right ratio. Also the there are no recommendations regarding frequency for the cottonseed meal. Anyone have any idea/recommendations? I am using coir instead of peat so I thought I might need something to help offset the alkaline water I have.

If I use one of the above, should I supplement with liquid ferts? I have:

Alaska Fish Emulsion: 5-1-1
Neptune's Harvest Fish Emulsion: 2-4-1
Neptune's Harvest Fish/Seaweed: 2-3-1
John's Recipe (locally brewed): 3-1-2

I also have Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed for acid loving plants: 0-0-1. I thought that since the Alaska stuff has the closest ratio, I could use it and add the Maxicrop for extra K. I thought if I double the amount per gallon that would bump the K up to 3. Does this sound like it would work? Should I fertilize weekly, biweekly, monthly?

I also use a product called Mineral's Plus in my potting mix. It consists of lava sand, granite sand, soft rock phospate with colloidal clay, humate, greensand and montmorillonite (?). The analysis is: Calcium-7%, Iron-5%, Magnesium-1%. Is this enough, or will I need to supplement the calcium and magnesium? If so, I have epsom salts and calcium nitrate. Can I use these? Or do I need some STEM? Can I mix it dry into the potting mix or should I water with it? How much per gallon?

I know this is a lot of questions! But I am new to this (this is only my second season) and in the past few months I have learned just how much I dont know!
Thank you,
Lydia

I will precede my message with a disclaimer...

----****DISCLAIMER****----
I am relatively new to citrus growing, and haven't the experience nor the expertise of most of the members on this site. My methods are not proven by any means, and I do not claim to be in any way correct with what I'm about to say.
----****END OF DISCLAIMER****----

Ok, now that I've got you to the point where you wouldn't believe a word that I said...

I've done a bit of experimenting on my newest tree with using only organic fertilizers. I've been using the Alaska Fish Fertilizer (5-1-1) fairly exclusively. I also add a bit of lime now and again to get some calcium and magnesium in there.

So far the tree seems healthy, leaves are very nicely colored and he's growing well (even in our dreary Michigan winter). No word on fruit yet, but then, he's only just a year or two old.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you might try experimenting a little with what you have. Keep things on the light side to avoid killing the poor things right out of the box. I have actually been very very very much considering doing exactly what you mentioned... getting some MaxiCrop seaweed (0-0-1) and mixing 1 part Alaska Fish with 1-2 parts MaxiCrop seaweed. Maybe this is a good excuse for me to get some and try it

Best of luck to you, rock on!

~Derek

Thanks for the replies y'all. Junglekeeper, I dont mind getting another fert designed for citrus if I have to. Any recommendations? Although I prefer organics for some reason. I am growing mostly herbs, a pepper and some foliage plants, all with different needs, hence the variety of ferts! Last year was only my first year growing anything so I have been trying a lot of different stuff ! I mostly go to organic nurseries and I cant seem to resist some new fert or amendment

Derek, I would like to hear more about your experimentation. I am new at this too and I cant seem to find a lot of information about using organic ferts in containers. Seems like most of the people gardening in containers use synthetic ferts, and most of the people using organics are gardening in the ground! How often do you fertilize with the Alaska fert? I think I will just go ahead and try the 5-1-1 and add extra Maxicrop and see how that goes.

I am still wondering about the magnesium and calcium. My water is very alkaline so I dont add any lime to my potting mix. Especially since I am using coir instead of peat. I have read that most organic ferts have the minors but the ferts I have dont say anything about mag and cal. Besides my thai lime, I have a pepper plant and they need mag and cal too. The pepper plant seems to be doing fine so maybe the Minerals Plus has what it needs. I guess I will just have to see how it goes. I am soaking my CHC in epsom salts and calcium nitrate now so maybe it will be alright.

Thanks for your help!
Lydia

Hi, Lydia. I never use organic fertilizers. I prefer synthetics, however, I do not have anything against organic culture. The main problem with organic fertilizers, as you have already found out, is getting enough potassium (K) to the tree. Does the labels on your organic fertilizers say that the N-P-K are ALL water soluble and imediately available to the tree? Some organic fertilizer nutrients are broken down over a longer period of time by the bacteria in the soil. If so, CHC and coir are pretty much bacteria free. You can grow a nice tree using organic fertilizers, but understand the fruit crops will always be smaller than with synthetic culture, and gnerally the size of each fruit is also usually smaller. Lastly, to Derek, Lime has calcium but it does NOT have any magnesium, unless your bag says it is DOLOMITE. - Millet

Junglekeeper, thank you for the link. The bottom line is always the knowledge of what is actualy true and not what is perceved. Knowledge is how we attain the awareness of understanding . - Millet

If we added well conditioned (powdered and aged for sometime in the soil) charcoal as one of the ingredients, this would help increase efficiency of fertilizer application (organic or not) and help minimize pollution from either sources.

Millet: You're right, I mis-typed it is Dolomite that I use (the outer package just reads "garden lime" but the ingredients would suggest otherwise).

~Derek

Thanks for the replies y'all. Actually Junglekeeper, I use organics not because I think they are somehow "better", but because for some reason I just like using them. Not sure why. I am well aware that plants dont know the difference between organic and synthetic nutrients. I am not "green" in any meaningful sense of the word. I dont buy organic food or other organic products (except for beef but thats because of mad cow), I dont recycle or involve myself in environmental issues. But the friends who got me interested in gardening worked at an organic nursery, so that is what I started with. Also I am mostly growing herbs that need very little ferts, and organics have the lowest numbers of all the ferts I saw. And funny as it may sound, I sorta get a kick out of messing around with stuff like fish, and seaweed and compost tea! So I am not so much against chemicals, its just that I have all this organic stuff, and I am used to using it, so I prefer to go that route.

Millet, neither the Minerals Plus nor Foxfarm stuff are water soluble. But the Foxfarm stuff has soil bacteria, and I use compost and periodic drenching with aerobic compost tea so there should be enough microbial activity to break down the granular stuff. And I actually dont want huge growth or harvests since I only need enough for me, and my balcony is pretty small. And thai limes are pretty much grown for the leaves not the fruit. Eventually I plan to move to a bigger apartment and may have room for some fruiting trees but for now, I need to keep things relatively small. Do you think the amounts of calcium and magnesium are enough or do I need more?

JoeReal, I dont know anything about charcoal in potting mix. I have seen orchid mixes that include charcoal and always wondered why. What does it do?
Lydia

Lydia, good luck and have fun with your tree. The calcium and magnesium should be fine. Thanks for the post, it was an interesting post. Take care. - Millet

Thanks Millet! Well today is the day! I have finished soaking and doing the cation exchange thing (it takes awhile when doing it in a bucket in the bathtub). I will use 4:1:1/2 CHC:coir:compost. I will add the minerals plus and use maybe half the amount of 5-5-5. I will fertilize with 5-1-1 with extra maxicrop added. I will see how it does.

I have really learned a lot from this forum!

Lydia